1650 ROOSEVELT Ave
Redwood City, CA 94061

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 900
$/SQ. FT.: $667
LOT SIZE: 3,200 Sq. Ft.
STORIES: 2
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1959
COMMUNITY: Central Park
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81202135
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 66 days
Great Starter Investment! Or live in one unit and rent out other for mrtgage relief. Good West Side Location! Close to schools – shopping – transportation – and Recreation Center!

If that black SUV drove forward another foot, comic hijinx would ensue.

Personally, I love the idea that you can rent out the other for “mrtgage relief”. Doesn’t this mean that each of the units is only really 450 sqft? So you have a choice: “mrtgage relief” or actually having space to yourself. Fun choices!

I’m surprised the carport spots aren’t enclosed. That could provide additional relief!

But let’s face it, real relief is spelled “R-e-a-l B-a-y A-r-e-a”

Here’s a stupendous short sale, with a DHO count of 2, count ‘em, 2!  Check out the DHO tag for more listing and Streetview photos featuring one or more Dudes Hanging Out.

Many thanks to Burbed reader Upwardly Noble for these luscious listing photos.

235 D St
Redwood City, CA 94063
$615,000

BEDS: 3
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: 1,580
$/SQ. FT.: $389
LOT SIZE: 4,850 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Attached Single Family
STYLE: Traditional, Contemporary
STORIES: 1
VIEW: Neighborhood
YEAR BUILT: 1941
COMMUNITY: Lenolt
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81142784
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Pending Without Release
ON REDFIN: 131 days

Absolutely gorgeous 3 bed, 2 full bath, 1580 sq ft living area, single story residence in a desirable area of Redwood City. 5 minutes to/from the freeway. Carpeted living room , family room, all bedrooms, and hallway, Roof 5 years old, House was gutted in 2009, by a professional contractor, updated to todays standards, and remodeled with all required permits. Dual Pane Energy saving Windows.

Here’s why Upwardly Noble sent in this house:

If this doesn’t sell it, I don’t know what will.  Gotta love the youthful exuberance of a short sale in this listing’s photos.  Not sure if the children were placed in the photos to inspire pity, excitement, or what, but I like their moxie.

Looks like they’re trying everything they can to sell this house, including listing it on different services.  On BAREIS, it’s been sitting unloved for 175 days (and very much still for sale).  Head over to MetroList, and you can only look at the driveway and the street.  Those are pictures #2-5 on MLSListings, the Redfin link up top.  And that’s also where you’ll find four, count ‘em, four different DHO photos!  BAREIS just had one, and MetroList, zilch!

Finally, here’s a shot only on BAREIS, which just barely squeaks this place into a Burbed Good Housekeeping award and tag.  Nice job keeping the pet bowls where we can see them, but next time, please include the kids WITH the dog.

A black dishwasher with white cabinetry.  Daring!  Now that’s “todays standards.”  Or on BAREIS, “todays colors.”  Yes, on the other two listings; the copy is different, as is the size of the lot.  Whoops!

BAREIS:

Back on the market, large spacious 3 bedroom, 2 full bath, 1580 sq foot home located in central area of Redwood City, Totally gutted, and redesigned in 2009. All modern appliances, todays colors, and heavy duty carpeting. Dual Pane windows, wood buring fireplace, Crown Molding through out the home. Refrigerator to stay, Corian Tile Kitchen Counters, and ceiling fans through out the house. 1 car attached garage, with electric garage door opener.

MetroList:

BANK APPROVED SHORT SALE Lovely 3 bedroom 2 bath single level 1580 sq ft home in Redwood City. 5 minutes to freeway. 30 minutes from SF. Much sought after area of Redwood City. Quiet community. Totally updated and renovated, New Exterior, new interior paint. Original hardwood flooring in Living Room. Large spacious kitchen with decent size eating area. Carpet in Family Room. Wood burning fireplace in living room. Active Short Sale.

These different agencies are supposed to cover different regions.  MLSListings covers San Francisco and south to Monterey, including Burbed’s frequent targets of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties; BAREIS is North Counties (Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Lake and Mendocino Counties); and MetroList is Sacramento/Central Valley.  You may have heard of one more, EBRD, which is for Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.

This artistic photo at right is from the BAREIS listing.  From the different photo sets and listing copy for the same house, we can only conclude that the agent deliberately listed this house on three different services, trying to see which approach would get the bank to eat the short sale first.

Update 10:50 AM: Just found this “bunus” extra shot on Zillow adding to the Xtreme DHO awesomeness!  Can you find yet more pictures of this house or these kids on some other listing sites?

Did you know that Burbed turned six last week?  Our very first post was on February 4th, 2006.  Here’s a peek:

What’s really great about the very first house on Burbed is it’s a castle on Buckingham Avenue!  That’s like finding a ski chalet on Zermatt Street, or a tilt-up industrial building on Technology Drive!

If you look up the listing history on Redfin, we can see just how good a job the agent did with that $555K asking price.

What do you think this house would sell for in today’s fever-pitched market?  Close to Facebook… I would say $888K FTW!

Any suggestions for celebrating six years of Burbed content?  This is an open thread.

Redwood City is always full of delightful surprises!  Today, Burbed reader Mole Man has one to share with all of you.  Unfortunately, it’s pending, but let’s enjoy it anyway.  Oh wait… they pulled the listing.  WTF?

1363 Gordon St
Redwood City, CA 94061
Sold on 4/21/2006 for $760,000

Fortunately, Burbed will stop at nothing to scour teh internets to find you photos, listing history, prices, anything we can, no matter how slimy the rock it’s under or how icky the bits in that old cache are.  Let’s see if we can come up with anything.

Ding! Ding! Ding!  Look what we found on Sawbuck!  Six photos and some listing lusciousness!

Bedrooms : 2
Bathrooms : 1
Lot Size : 0.18 ac
Finished Sq Ft : 840 sq. ft.
Type : Detached Single Family
Year Built : 1946
Subdivision : Central Park Etc.
Stories : 1
MLS# : 81145133
WalkScore™ : 66 (Somewhat Walkable)

BANK-OWNED! Adorable starter home in move-in condition; hardwood floors throughout; updated bath; 6-car garage in the backyard perfect for car collectors. Hurry this won’t last! Sold AS IS! Bank of America Prequalification REQUIRED on all offers! Plus Proof of Funds! "Cash transactions are subject to special deed restrictions."

Here’s why Mole Man thought this property belonged on the front page:

Check this redwood city gold mine out:

• Sold for $760k in 2006
• Now listed at $467,850
• You save nearly 40%!

And don’t worry about the flood zone stuff– it’s been years since there was high water around there.

Um… what flood zone stuff?  Is that why they pulled a pending listing?  And it looks like the price was cut some more, to $450,000, after Mole Man sent it in.  Somebody sure wanted a new house for the New Year, going into contract on December 30th.

Plus a six car garage?  Let’s say that again, an 840 square foot house with a SIX CAR GARAGE.  That means the garage is bigger than the house, as a two-car garage is 400 sf.

When I first saw this photo, I thought I was looking at a barn, and wondered where the riding tack was.

As you admire the rest of the photos (not available on most other sites!), remember, they really knew how to build them in 1946.  Look at those hardwood floors, and those hardwood floors!

And yet another Home Depot Bathroom Sink Special right up against the bathtub.  You can’t great design like this just anywhere.

Hurry, this won’t last.  That’s why it’s being sold as-is.

Any idea what the “special deed restrictions” might be for all-cash transactions?  At least they’re saying this place is Special.

301 ENCINA Ave
Redwood City, CA 94061

$539,000

Reading this, it’s not clear to me whether the garage or the house or the guest area has the built-in stereo and air conditioning.

I’m going naturally assume it was the garage. Because… what says “Awesome Man Cave” like built-in stereo and air conditioning. If it had built iPod support, this could be easily another $50k more.

I’m not sure what you’re waiting for – start the new year off right with this ultimate party pad!

If you want DEALS, DEALS, DEALS, you came to the right place!  Not only are the BLACK FRIDAY DEALS continuing, today’s DEAL is in Redwood City!  You just never know what’s going to pop up there!  Pop pop!

Undisclosed, Redwood City, CA 94063
$208,000

BEDS: 2
BATHS: 2
SQ. FT.: -
LOT SIZE: 2,500 Sq. Ft.
TYPE: Detached
STYLE: Contemporary
STORIES: 1
YEAR BUILT: 1957
COMMUNITY: Redwood
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 40534692
SOURCE: EBRD
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 147 days

SHORTSALE

The agent didn’t waste any words on this listing, so we won’t either.  But this house definitely earned its “Good Housekeeping” tag of approval.

Address disclosed: 516 McArthur Avenue.  You’re welcome.

“Bunus”!  Looks like this place is in a gated community!

Happy Halloween!

Burbed reader Moxie Girl has a suggestion for you on where to look for Halloween Treats.  Or Tricks.  Or lots and lots of instant equity.  So please give Moxie Girl a big, warm Real Bay Area welcome for this Guest Column on a great new neighborhood for you to check out tonight!

I’ve been reading your blog for awhile, and find it horrifyingly (and refreshingly) informative. I currently rent in RBA Mountain View, also known as the 900-sq.-foot-house-on-the-weensiest lot-available-asking-price-$1M capital of California.

Anywhoo, I was tootling along minding my own business, and as I cast my keen eye over Redfin this morning, found this (see attachment) in Redwood City. Let me backtrack first and say that Redfin has been updating the mini neighborhoods in cities for those of us not in the know (Birdland Neighbors in Sunnyvale? Castro City in Mountain View? Sign me up!). And apparently Redwood City has a new neighborhood. Who knew?

*Possible Contamination* is the new, hot, move-in mess you’ve been waiting for. Adjacent to Woodside Plaza and in sniffing distance of Alameda de las Pulgas (Street of the Fleas…perhaps this is linked to the contamination problem?), Possible Contamination is your dream destination: houses built in the 1960s with an asking price of $800K+, which are all basically tear downs just waiting to happen. Then you can spend another $500K building the house of your dreams while being hemmed in by average schools and weird neighbors. But hey, isn’t Redwood City’s motto “Climate Best by Government Test“?

I can only imagine that your other eagle-eyed Burbed readers will want to know and move to this neighborhood ASAP. Our own mini-me Chernobyl site! Does that make RWC a sister city to Alviso? Or would that be Three Mile Island?

p.s. This aberration is attributable only to Redfin’s site–if you check out RWC on Google maps, *Possible Contamination* is not there.

Everybody can find some poor fool losing a Lexus or BMW worth of money on their unfortunate adventures in home-ownership. But in the rarefied air surrounding Emerald Lake Hills in Redwood City, you can turn the dream of home ownership into the nightmare of losing 5-10 years of average tech worker salary. Make sure to whisper as we talk about these gems as we wouldn’t want the current buyers to figure out they caught a knife just yet! Let that be an unpleasant surprise for them in a few years.

This timeless termite-group-hugger finally sold with only a year or so on the market after getting the burbed treatment. Yep, it’s a white hot real estate market for those of you with your own giant puddle to call 1/9th your own. It sold for only $700k (give or take $10k) under the original wishing price! That’s an entire HOUSE in Slummyvale!

But if you’re worried that’s not a REAL haircut, just a dreamer being rudely disabused of his or her little fantasy, let’s take a peak buyer’s banker’s pain and put it on display… a $386k haircut for the bank! There were two loans, so two banks dueled it out to see who would spill the most blood on THAT deal. I’m sure that Pyrrhic victory left the bank feeling like a million bucks!

Too pedestrian? Don’t worry, people with real skin in the game and a much higher price point joined in the blood letting with anot-a-lot-of-money loss of a half million and change. The good news is the sellers stuck to their guns and squeezed and extra $412 bucks for their little slice of hemorrhaging-cash-like-a-diarrhea-afflicted-elephant-heaven. I’m sure that took the sting off of it.

Yes, there are many ways to lose your mASSarati in Emerald Hills real estate! Come join the party!

Today’s listing is from frequent Guest Blogger and occasional Guest Editor sfbubblebuyer!  Thanks very much for this awesome property in, where else, Redwood City! 

The agent isn’t sure if it’s in “Emerald Hills” or Cordilleras Heights, but it’s that specialized knowledge, such as what neighborhood a given house is in, that explains why these professionals split a $60,000 fee to help buy or sell a million dollar piece of property.

For the first time ever, we have truth in advertising. At least truth in advertising on a street name. I present 503 Edgecliff Way.

 

503 EDGECLIFF Way, Redwood City, CA 94062
$995,000

BEDS: 4
BATHS: 2.5
SQ. FT.: 3,100
$/SQ. FT.: $321
LOT SIZE: 7,744 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Contemporary
STORIES: 2
VIEW: Bay
YEAR BUILT: 1989
COMMUNITY: Cordilleras Heights
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81126139
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 85 days

Contemporary style modern home in Emerald Hills with highly desirable upgrades. Cherry & granite kitchen, contemporary lighting, large walk-in master closet w/ built-ins, double decks & patio, large back yard w/ beautiful landscaping, 2 car garage with built in storage, extra storage below house, extra room below house to build an in-law. Plus, a majestic view of the bay!

You know you’re buying quality when you can bungee jump from your own driveway! They even conveniently sloped the driveway towards the house so that you will be alerted to heavy rainstorms by water flowing across your garage floor.

Or perhaps, if you’re more theatrically inclined, you could stage a neighborhood play of Romeo And Juliet since your front door is on it’s own balcony! How romantic! And you want character? Well, this fake-Spanish house comes with it’s very own OCTAGONAL WINDOW! Whoa! Don’t put a ball through that, you don’t want to know what it’ll cost to replace!

Enough of the outside! Inside we’ve got our standard granite, but blinged up a bit with Cherry! It comes with a wine fridge located right next to the oven, because cooling and heating devices next to each other screams "I have so much money I don’t care about thermodynamics!"

And what is this? A bathroom with all black fixtures? If you plan on using it for the help, don’t worry, they won’t be offended. The sink has built in cawluhms to class up the joint!

Here’s a house direct from comments by Burbed reader (and occasional Guest Editor) sfbubblebuyer.

 

805 MOHICAN Way, Redwood City, CA 94062
$675,000

BEDS: 3
BATHS: 1
SQ. FT.: 1,330
$/SQ. FT.: $508
LOT SIZE: 7,500 Sq. Ft.
PROPERTY TYPE: Detached Single Family
STYLE: Cottage/Bungalow
STORIES: 1
VIEW: Bay, Neighborhood, City Lights
YEAR BUILT: 1952
COMMUNITY: Cordilleras Heights
COUNTY: San Mateo
MLS#: 81135848
SOURCE: MLSListings
STATUS: Active
ON REDFIN: 9 days

Great little single level, 1330 sq. ft, 3bdrm/1ba bungalow in Emerald Hills w/ pool. Tiny peak of bay. Roy Cloud School around corner. Location and price make this a winner! This home would be fabulous with some updating! CAR FORMS ONLY PLEASE. Please make sure all doors are locked and lights off when leaving.

Here’s what sfbb had to say about this house:

That whole tract [area around Stony Hill Road] is picked clean right now. There were some SERIOUS crapfests that I was sure weren’t going to sell. Of course, the worst offenders have disappeared without being marked as ‘sold’ so I’m sure they’ll be back.

Here’s a house for you in the general area, a short sale listed for less than the 1999 sale price.As you can see, this piping hot potato was passed many times before it decided to burn the bejeebus out of the current holders. That’s gonna leave a mark!

No need to water your own lawn, either, all the water’s in the pool!

I’ve heard that school district is one of the most important priorities people have in buying a property, but including this photo (right) is ridiculous.

We got a Redfin agent tour on this place, too!  Let’s see how they’ll help us find our perfect home this time.

Agent listing descriptions sometimes reveal things they don’t mean to, such as the last line implying the housing price adventure is lurching toward its lonely conclusion.  Lock up and lights out, people.  And that other phrase: Tiny peak of bay.  This place for $875K was a tiny peak all right. A tiny peak price.

The bank can accept or decline your offer, even if your overbidding brings the price up to where it should be.  After all, it doesn’t want to get stiffed on the last house of the Mohican.